Blood & Steel
by Cheezel1993
Summary: Space exploration has become a part of everyday life for some, but no matter where we end up, war will always follow. The Titan wars have raged on for years, but just how far into the universe will it take the soldiers who fight it. The Legion have always been the underdogs, but things will change with every battle they fight, and with every world they travel to.
1. Reference Page

**(A/N) This is a simple reference guide for everything you may see the Pilots using in this story. Looking at this will be a lot simpler than having me have to explain what each thing is when I mention it.**

Pilots

Pilots are known to be some of the best soldiers around, possessing superior skills and equipment compared to the standard Grunt. They're armed with a myriad of equipment and weaponry, including one piece of equipment known as the, "Jump Kit." Jump Kits are small jetpacks worn around the waist, they allow Pilots to double jump, wall run and fall from great heights without the risk of death.

Primary Weapons

R-101C Carbine: Medium range, automatic assault rifle. Extremely versatile and user friendly, good for almost any situation. Known as the, "workhorse assault rifle of the frontier."

EVA-8 Shotgun: Semi-automatic shotgun, deadly in close-quarters combat. (It's a shotgun, what more can be said)

Smart Pistol MK5: Automatic lock-on handgun. It scans for hostile targets within a short range and locks onto them automatically, rounds fired will then maneuver to hit the locked targets. Aiming with the iron sights switches to manual targeting. Amount of locks required for automatic targeting depends on the target.

R-97 Compact SMG: SMG with a high rate of fire and minimal recoil, this and its large magazine size makes it a deadly weapon in close-quarters. Its lethality is increased when equipped with the "Scatterfire" mod, though the increase in fire rate substantially decreases accuracy, also empties the magazine very quickly.

Longbow-DMR Sniper: Semi-automatic sniper rifle. It fires hyper-velocity rounds which completely eliminates the need to lead targets, allowing the shooter to fire multiple shots quickly in succession.

G2A4 Rifle: Semi-automatic battle rifle. A rather old weapon compared to some of the latest creations through the advances in weapons technology. Still, it's a favorite of special forces units due to its high damage and extremely precise fire - a testament to its high level of craftsmanship. When equipped with a "Match Trigger" it allows the shooter to fire as quickly as they can pull the trigger.

Hemlock BF-R: Burst fire assault rifle, fires three rounds per burst. While this is a liability at short range, the trade off delivers a weapon with a good balance of long-range accuracy, damage and fire rate. The "Starburst" mod converts the Hemlock's burst fire rate to five rounds per burst.

C.A.R. (Combat Advanced Round) SMG: A SMG that is designed to fire a more powerful round than its R-97 counterpart, providing greater damage and accuracy at range but at the cost of fire rate and magazine capacity. Its "Counterweight" mod allows for higher accuracy when firing from the hip or moving.

Spitfire LMG: A light machine gun that has high recoil at first, but eventually stabilizes into a tighter firing pattern. Due to its unique recoil, sustained firing is recommended over the traditional method of firing in short bursts. The "Slammer" mod makes it a powerful weapon against enemy Titans through a rodeo attack.

Kraber-AP Sniper: A straight-pull bolt-action sniper rifle with a side mounted magazine. It fires a unique round, ensuring 'one-shot, one-kill' results against human-scale targets. However, due to long projectile travel time between the shot and impact, considerable judgement in leading is required, making it a difficult weapon to use against moving targets.

Sidearms

Hammond P2011: Named after its creator, the Hammond is semi-automatic handgun. Its integrated 'match trigger' allows it to be fired as fast as the trigger can be pulled.

RE-45 Autopistol: A fully automatic pistol. It sacrifices damage and accuracy at range for improved effectiveness at close range.

B3 Wingman: An extremely powerful revolver with very high accuracy out to long range. Precision aim is required to make up for its very low rate of fire.

Anti-Titan Weapons

Archer Heavy Rocket: The Archer fires a powerful homing rocket that requires locking on before it can be fired. When aimed, a targeting window flips out, allowing target acquisition.

Sidewinder: The Sidewinder is a rapid-fire micro-missile launcher. Though each missile does limited damage, its generous magazine size makes up for it.

Mag (Magnetic) Launcher: The Mag Launcher fires magnetic grenades. When fired, the grenades will veer towards nearby enemy Titans. Its low ammo capacity, slow reload and moderate damage output makes this a more challenging AT weapon for Pilots to handle.

Charge Rifle: The Charge Rifle fires an energy beam that inflicts massive damage. Holding the trigger charges the weapon. Timing is critical, however, as the weapon will only fire once it has reached full charge and will automatically discharge upon reaching full charge.

Ordnance

Frag Grenade: (Nuff said)

Arc Grenade: Deal less damage compared to Frag grenades, but heavily distorts the vision systems of Titans and Pilots caught in the blast radius.

Arc Mine: A proximity mine that can stick to any surface, similar effect to the Arc grenades.

Satchel Charge: Manually detonated high explosive. Primed when thrown into place, activated by the Pilots detonator.

Data Knife

A tool used by Pilots for hacking purposes. Also used for wall hanging, stabbing the knife into the wall.

Tactical Abilities

Cloak: Turns its user invisible for a short time. The Cloak ability is most useful against enemy Titans, making the user completely invisible to its viewing systems, it also fools an enemy Pilots Active Radar Pulse. Enemy Pilots can however see the user as bleak-white shapes, and jets from a jump kit are not hidden. Firing a weapon instantly cancels the cloaking system.

Stim: Once activated, boosts Pilot movement and reload speed. Also improves healing capabilities.

Active Radar Pulse: Allows temporary vision of allies and enemies through walls, cloaked Pilots are invisible to its effects.

Titans

Towering over the battlefield, Titans are advanced battle mechs that are another addition to the Pilots inventory. Designed to be an extension of a Pilots body, Titans can be operated by a Pilot from within its cockpit. Alternatively, while a Pilot isn't operating his or her Titan, it will be presided over by an AI which can be set to either follow their Pilot or guard a position. An Auto-Titan will engage enemy targets automatically.

Dash

Whereas Pilots are able to jump around their surroundings, this understandably is not the case with Titans. Instead, all Titans are equipped with a dash thruster. The dash allows a Titan to quickly move in any direction. The dash capacity of a Titan depends on the chassis it is installed in.

Chassis

Atlas: The very first of its kind, the Atlas was the original Titan that is still used by many Pilots on the battlefield. With its perfect balance of mobility and power, the Atlas is an excellent Titan for all engagements and situations. Atlas Titans also come equipped with a "Damage Core" which, when activated, boost its damage output to impressive levels. Atlas' have two dashes at their disposal

H-KA02/Ogre: The Ogre has been developed as an extremely tough Titan chassis, optimized for taking high amounts of damage and dealing more than most other chassis. With its high levels of shielding and armor, the Ogre excels in one-on-one battles with other Titans and close-quarters combat. Its powerful form comes at the cost of mobility however, the Ogre is easily one of slowest Titans to ever be produced and is at a strong disadvantage in wide open areas. It comes equipped with a dash capacity of just one dash at a time. True to its powerful design, the Ogre comes equipped with a "Shield Core" which amps the Titans shields for a limited time.

Stryder: The polar opposite of the Ogre, the Stryder has been developed as an extremely mobile and maneuverable Titan variant. It's almost skeletal design has been optimized for superior speed and agility, allowing it to outmatch any other Titan when it comes to quickly moving around the battlefield. Although, due to its stripped down design, the Stryders armor is largely non-existent, making it much more fragile in combat. Its dash capacity is at a total of three. The Stryders "Dash Core" gives the Titan unlimited dashes temporarily.

Primary Weapons

XO-16 Chaingun: A fully automatic 20mm Chaingun. With its high precision and low recoil, very rarely will a Titan Pilot miss their intended target. A perfect two way weapon, effective against both Pilots and Titans, it is the go-to weapon for all Pilots of any level.

40mm Cannon: The 40mm Cannon is a semi-automatic weapon that fires a high-explosive round with good accuracy. It can be a powerful weapon against enemy Titans, able to destroy a Titan with just one magazine. Although it requires a level of precision for a direct hit against smaller targets, such as Pilots, splash damage will still harm the intended target. Equally at home attacking both enemy Pilots and Titans, it can be a destructive weapon in the right hands.

Quad Rocket: The Quad Rocket fires four rockets at once in its primary firing mode. In alternative mode, it fires slow moving swirls of rocket that are effective at temporarily denying territory to the enemy. It is best used against enemy Titans, having limited effectiveness against fast moving Pilots.

Plasma Railgun: The Railgun fires a traveling charged pulse with high accuracy out to long range. Its power can be charged up through multiple stages before firing until reaching full charge, a full charged Railgun shot can deliver a very powerful punch. As powerful a weapon as it can be, the Railgun is at an extreme disadvantage in close-quarters combat. It is best used in a large open area.

Arc Cannon: The Arc Cannon fires a bolt of lightning that propagates across multiple targets. It can be fired quickly, or charged up over time for an increase in firepower. Damaging a Pilot or a Titan with the Arc Cannon will cause momentary visual distortion, much like an Arc Grenade or Mine. It is a very versatile weapon with its effectiveness against both Pilots and Titans, though the necessity to charge each shot for higher damage can sometimes leave the user at a disadvantage.

Triple Threat: The Triple Threat is a grenade launcher that shoots three grenades at once. It excels at clearing rooms, and its grenades explode on armored contact, making it effective at close range against other Titans. The trio of grenades will normally fire horizontally, though in alternative fire they fire vertically. Grenades can fly surprisingly far in alternative fire. Best used at close range, the Triple Threat is most effective against other Titans. The grenades have a delay before exploding once on the ground, and skilled Pilots have a chance to jump above the explosions to avoid possible death.

Ordnance

Rocket Salvo: Launches a rapid salvo of unguided missiles. Useful during a fight with another Titan to fill the gap while reloading or to initiate combat with an unsuspecting enemy Titan. Best used against Titans as hitting ground troops with the salvo can prove to be quite difficult.

Slaved Warheads: Automatic targeting missiles, requires a lock before it can be fired. When fired, a barrage of three homing missiles will launch four times. The missiles will turn back towards their target and continue to track them if they happen to miss. This ordinance can only be used against enemy Titans or targets of the same size or larger.

Cluster Missile: A single fired missile which, upon impact, deploys a shower of secondary explosive charges that continue to explode and saturate an area for a considerable amount of time. Effective against both enemy Titans and Pilots, also useful for clearing out interiors of buildings that may be hiding other enemies.

Multi-Target Missile System: Missiles that Enable the user to engage multiple targets all at the same time. By painting multiple enemies and firing, the missiles will fire towards their intended targets, much like the Slaved Warheads. Just like the Slaved Warheads, this ordinance can only be used against enemy Titans or other enemies of the same size or larger.

Tactical Abilities

Vortex Shield: Able to stop enemy projectiles, such as rockets and bullets, in their tracks and is able to send the projectiles right back to the enemy. This effect does not extend to lightning bolts fired by the Arc Cannon.

Electric Smoke: Disperses a screen of electrified smoke. Highly damaging to Pilots and Titans shields. Good for hiding the users Titans movements, but most effective for removing an enemy currently rodeoing the users Titan.

Particle Wall: Deploys a one way stationary force-field, blocking enemy fire from one side while allowing the user to fire through the other. Degrades over time and when taking damage, changing from green to red depending on how much longer it will last. Useful in multiple scenarios.

Kits

Nuclear Ejection: As a Pilot ejects from their Titan, the Titan briefly charges and then detonates its nuclear core, dealing massive amounts of damage to all nearby enemies.

Auto Eject: The Titan will automatically eject their Pilot once it has entered a doomed state. The Pilot will also cloak briefly, whether or not they have access to a cloak ability.

Big Punch: Upgrades a Titans melee attack to inflict greater damage than normal and push enemy Titans back further.

**(A/N) There are plenty of other Titan kits, but I feel these are really the main ones that I could incorporate into the story. The next bit I'm just adding for the hell of it.**

Titan OS

The Titan Operating System (OS) is the artificial advisory system implemented in the exoskeleton of all Titans. They inform Titan Pilots of any important information, regarding their Titan, during combat. Some OS' have been developed to have different personalities.

Betty: Betty is the voice of the announcer that comes pre-installed with every new Titan. She is known for giving calm advice to Pilots even under severe fire conditions.

Jeeves: Steadfast. Unflinching. Resolute. Modeled after the legendary English butler, a favorite amongst Pilots who follow a strict code of honor and tea at four o'clock, gunfire and enemies be damned.

SID: "Subjugate, Intimidate, and Destroy." Tuned for maximum aggression, SID is standard issue for Pilots assigned Urban Pacification missions. When asking politely doesn't work, having a hostile Titan backing you up often will.

Vanessa: Life on the frontier can be a harsh and lonely one. Affectionate and warm, Vanessa is designed to form close and emotional bonds with the Pilots she serves, giving them extra reason to come back from a mission with their Titan intact.


	2. Beginnings

The radio sat in the corner of the room, silent and unused. With a flick of the power switch, it crackled to life. Bringing forward the latest news stories.

* * *

_"After many decades of setbacks, scientists have finally discovered a way to fold space and time. What this could mean for the future, is still being theorized."_

* * *

_"Deep space explorers have discovered a dense zone of habitable planets and everyone is calling it a, New Frontier."_

* * *

_"We are receiving breaking news that G.U.N. forces stationed in the Frontier have come under attack from an unknown enemy faction. Whether any of the colonized planets within the system are in danger of further attacks is yet to be seen, we will keep you informed as we receive further information."_

* * *

_"Enemies of G.U.N. we now know as the, Cyrak, have been found within the Core System. G.U.N. has reacted by removing their forces from the Frontier and returning home, Mobius is yet to come under any form of attack."_

* * *

_"As G.U.N. forces take more and more losses, engineers are scrambling to match the technology that the Cyrak have in their possession. Head of G.U.N., The Commander, has given us this statement."_

_"The Cyrak have attacked us in our home system, and we will not stand for this. We will fight to our last breath if that's what it takes, we will not fail. Our engineers are currently creating the weapon that will allow us to remove our enemies from our planet, and I am going to find the soldiers to use it. I am activating the, Pilot Initiative."_

* * *

_"With the Cyrak removed from the Core System, G.U.N. has since returned to the Frontier. However, their return has been meet with resistance from many of the colonies currently occupying the system."_

* * *

_"Years of tension exploded into all out war on the Frontier today. The group calling themselves the Legion have conducted numerous raids on G.U.N. garrisons. Former princess of Mobotropolis, Sally Acorn, is believed to be the leader of this new faction."_

* * *

_"Vice Admiral, Shadow. You and Captain Jenkins have a long history of successful missions against the Legion. What do you think made him turn, Admiral? Why did Jenkins betray you?"_

* * *

_"The small guerrilla group who has been attacking G.U.N. operations has reportedly been eliminated. They were allies to neither G.U.N. nor the Legion. G.U.N. has stated that all members of the group have been killed in action, including former G.U.N. officers, Connor Jenkins and close friend, Gold the Fox."_

* * *

_"Short on fuel and supplies, the First Legion Fleet is unlikely to survive their next encounter with the G.U.N. battle group in pursuit."_


	3. The Refuelling Raid

**(A/N) So here we go, first real chapter of my new story. Let's cut all the BS and get right into it.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the story itself and some of the characters within it. MLP belongs to Hasbro, Sonic the Hedgehog belongs to SEGA, and Titanfall is property of Respawn. Insert more legal stuff here.**

* * *

Everything onboard the Dropship was relatively quiet, only the low hum from the engine and the chatter from the Dropship pilots as they completed their last minute checks broke the silence. A yellow, two tailed fox sat in one of the seats along the side near the front of the ship, calmly working away on the portable electronic device he held in his hands with his feet resting on a small crate in front of him. Further up the Dropship, a brown chipmunk stood on the steps leading up to the cockpit, carefully watching over the pilots as they finished their preparations. Along with all of them, standing inside the dropship, stood the Titan Pilots. Some of the greatest soldiers the Frontier had ever seen. They meticulously checked over their weapons and gear as they prepared for their deployment.

"We're all set," explained one of the dropship pilots, looking up at the chipmunk.

She gave him a nod before turning around and walking down the steps.

"This is, two, standing by," they heard over the radio from another dropship.

"Three, good to go," came another response.

"Roger that, all flights initiate jump sequence," came the order.

The fox removed his feet from the crate and placed his hands on it to steady himself, the chipmunk gripped the handrail along the stairs with one of her own as they waited for the jump to commence.

"Jumping in three...two...one, mark!" The dropship pilot counted down.

The build up from the jump drive drowned out any noise within the ship, a heavy 'whump' soon followed as the dropship commenced its jump. A bright white light accompanied the noise. It slowly disappeared and the noise faded as they arrived at their destination, only a few glowing particles remained in the ship as they flew across the landscape. The planet they had arrived on appeared to be a former colony of sorts. It was once a home for the wealthy, though the current mining operations had destroyed the once beautiful landscape. Many of the buildings were torn apart, some had gaping holes within them while others had been reduced to rubble.

"The rest of the civilian fleet is right behind us, Sally," the two tailed fox explained while the chipmunk walked past the Titan Pilots to the back of the dropship. "Most of them are running on fumes right now."

"We're out of options, Tails. It's now or never," Sally replied, grabbing ahold of a lever above her. She gave it a pull downwards and the ramp on the back of the dropship lowered, opening up the back of the ship. "Either way we need this fuel, or none of us are going to make it" she shouted to the Titan Pilots over the noise from the dropship. She spared a quick glance down to the ground below before turning back to the Pilots "The fleet's counting on you. Go! Go!"

The Pilots looked around at one another before quickly running off of the ramp and jumping into the air. As they fell to the ground, their jump kits activated and let out a steady and continuous thrust, softening their landing. Just ahead of them, a Titan was already on the ground. It's front hatch was open and Pilot seated inside was giving out orders to the Grunts on the ground.

"Jackson, take your squad up this road!" He shouted. "The rest of you move through this building behind me and secure the area!"

The majority of the Pilots ran ahead into the building in front of them, it had been named, Hardpoint Charlie. A small window popped up in the corner on the Pilots huds, Tails face appeared as he explained the situation.

"Ok Pilots," he began. "This is a Hardpoint operation. Take control of as many Hardpoints as you can, patch me into them, and I'll take care of the rest," he finished, leaning back into his chair before window closed up again.

"Well this mission pretty much seems like a suicide run, but I guess we could give it a crack," one of the Pilots chuckled.

"G.U.N. might have us beat in numbers, Inkwell," one of the other Pilots replied. "But we make up for it in skill. Even if this is one of their larger fuel mining worlds we're raiding, I'd say we're pretty evenly matched."

"We'll see, Ionia. We'll see," Inkwell replied.

A group of grunts took up positions around the Hardpoint, one making his way over to the terminal and taking a seat.

"Alright, Pilots," Tails came in again. "I have control of this sector. Now we just need Alpha and Bravo and we'll be refueling at max speed."

"I've got Alpha," Inkwell stated.

"I'll back you up," Ionia added.

"I guess you and me have Bravo then, Ash," one of the other Pilots said.

"Sounds good to me, Angel," Ash answered. "Let's do it!"

The two other Pilots in the squad had already run off, a G.U.N. Titan had been sighted in the area so it was likely they were going to try and deal with it. The others didn't know them personally, they had only joined recently, Pilots for hire that had come from the core system. The remaining four split into their designated pairs, making a run for the other two Hardpoints. Hardpoint Alpha seemed to be stationed on the opposite end of the field of Charlie, Inkwell and Ionia had already closed half the distance between the two. As they neared the building the Hardpoint was located within, shots began firing towards them from one of the windows. Inkwell took a bullet to her shoulder, causing her to stumble as she quickly changed her path to some nearby cover. Ionia continued sprinting onwards, activating her cloaking device as she went. The shooter was visible in the window they were shooting from, Ionia raised her G2A4 and returned fire. Her target quickly moved out of the way and retreated into the main area of the building.

"Go!" Ionia shouted over her radio to Inkwell.

The two of them were soon running side by side and entering the building. Ionia threw a Frag Grenade near terminal inside, screams and shouting came from the Grunts inside before the explosive detonated. Inkwell ran up a small set of stairs to the second level of the building as Ionia ran straight up to the terminal.

"The signals jammed," Tails explained to them. "You need to clear out the hostiles inside so I can get a better connection."

That meant one thing, there was an enemy Pilot in the Hardpoint. Ionia jumped into the air and used her Jump Kit to get herself onto the second level, right in front of the enemy Pilot. He raised his gun and attempted to pull the trigger, quickly interrupted by the butt of Ionia's rifle across the side of his helmet. The impact spun him around to face Inkwell. Inkwell turned herself to her side, jumping off her left foot and booting him in the chest with her right. The armor Pilots wore strengthened the power in their legs, a Jump Kick from a Pilot was enough to shatter bones and rupture internal organs. With the Pilot gone, the Hardpoint was theirs to take.

"Alright, I'm patched in," they heard from Tails again. "I'm shutting down the turrets and opening up the fuel lines."

Running towards the building, Ionia and Inkwell had seen why it was so important they keep the Hardpoints out of G.U.N. control. Atop each Hardpoint sat a massive defense turret. Just by looking at them, it was clear they could cause some serious damage if they were ever brought online.

"Pilot, your Titan will be ready in two minutes," Inkwell heard Sally say as her face popped up on her hud before disappearing again.

"How are we going with the last Hardpoint?" Inkwell asked the others over the radio.

* * *

"We're a little busy right now!" Angel shouted back, unloading rounds from her Spitfire at the enemies within the building.

"Hardpoint Charlie is under attack!" Tails voice cried out over the radio.

From her right, Angel saw Ash sprint past her back out the door they'd entered through. She looked down at the enemies within the building they were trying to take control of. Summing up her options, she finally came to a decision.

"Damnit!" She growled, kicking the barrier in front of her before sprinting out after Ash.

The distance between the two Hardpoints wasn't very far, and considering how locked down Bravo was at the moment, defending Charlie seemed like the best option at that time. Outside, Angel could see Ash was just about to enter the building that housed the Hardpoint through the large opening on the front of it. Next thing she knew, Ash was sprinting back the way he came. Activating his cloaking device and throwing an Arc Mine on the ground as he ran. That was never a good sign, and Angel wasted no time switching on her cloak as her fellow Pilot had done. Not a second a later, a G.U.N. Atlas came lumbering out from the building.

"I thought the other two took care of that," Angel said to Ash.

"I haven't seen them around, and I've only heard anything from Ionia and Inkwell," Ash replied. "I'm gonna guess the Titan faired better."

Although the Pilot in the Titan couldn't see either of them for the moment, it was still walking in their direction. A shrill beeping suddenly sounded as the Titan neared the Mine Ash had placed only moments ago. An electric explosion blew out from under the Titans foot, arcs of electricity shot around its body.

"You wanna put that Spitfire of yours to use?" Ash said to Angel as he ran back for the Hardpoint.

"Gladly," Angel smirked.

With her cloak still active, Angel sprinted for the currently blinded Atlas. Just as her cloak was about to run out she jumped into the air. Her jump kit activated giving her the double jump she needed. She landed on the shoulder of the Atlas, expertly swinging herself around to its back. Her left hand quickly found its way to the hand bar on the machines back. Her right hand grabbed the handle of the panel that covered the internal systems. She gave the handle a twist and gave it a heavy pull, ripping the cover clean off and letting it fly off behind her. Angel raised her Spitfire and aimed it straight into the internal systems, pulling the trigger and letting her weapon roar. The LMG she carried made short work of the Titan she was rodeoing, the Slammer modification installed within the weapon made sure of that. In just a few short seconds the Titan had been destroyed, sent straight into its doomed state. Angel heard the sound of something activating beneath her, and before she knew it she found herself ascending into the skies. Flying up with her was the owner of the now destroyed machine, the Pilot had already raised their weapon and started sending a hail of bullets straight at her. Angel brought her own to her shoulder and began returning fire. The first few bullets flew wildly through the air, that's what Angel had expected however. The Spitfire wasn't known for great accuracy when it first began firing. A number of impacts slammed into her chest, followed by another to the side of her neck. That wasn't enough to save her attacker however. Soon Angel had gained control of her weapon and was quickly sending a storm of projectiles straight back. The brutal assault ripped into the Pilot, literally tearing her to shreds and sending more pieces falling to the ground than had originally gone up.

Angel activated her jump kit before she hit the ground, stumbling a few steps before falling into a hurried sprint.

"Bitch!" She growled at her fallen adversary, stepping over a torn and bloody limb.

Angel looked down at herself as she ran, blood leaked from the wounds where she'd been hit. She placed her hand on her neck briefly before removing it and inspecting it, more blood stained her glove. A numbing sensation quickly enveloped her injuries. With the pain gone, Angel quickened her pace. The armor Pilots wore was much more advanced than what the average foot soldiers had access to. Their armor was embedded with nano technology, Nanites within the suits were capable of repairing certain injuries such as bullet wounds. There was only so much they could at once, however. To many hits at once and a Pilot would most certainly find themselves joining the fallen.

"Ok, we have Hardpoint Charlie under control," Tails came in. "But G.U.N. now have control of Alpha and Bravo. We're neck in neck with G.U.N. right now, you guys need to step it up down there."

"Bravo's out of the question," Inkwell said over the radio. "There's a Titan outside the building with a Triple Threat. They've been sending grenades in non stop the moment we get near it, we can't take the Hardpoint until it's out of the way."

The solution arrived in Angels hands when Sally spoke to her over her radio.

"Pilot, you're Titan's ready for launch. Call it when ready." Angel threw out her beacon and waited for its arrival. "Copy that. Standby for Titanfall," Sally stated."

Angel turned her eyes to the sky as a rumbling sound began roaring from above, spotting a fireball rapidly descending towards the earth. The delivery pod split open, sending its four parts flying off to the sides. The ground shook and dust kicked up into the air on impact, the Titan crouched before her was an Ogre. Angel raced ahead towards her Titan, the machine raised its arm across its front. She jumped onto the arm and leapfrogged into the open cockpit, grabbing onto one of the hand rails and swinging herself into the seat. The hatch closed shut and filled the cockpit with darkness, a holographic screen lit up in front of Angel in segments and gave her a view into the outside. She placed her arms on the rests of the seat, metal bands springing up out of the arm rests and wrapping around her arms.

"AI offline, Pilot mode engaged," the deep voice of her Titans OS, Sid, stated. A heavy thud came from the roof of the hull, catching Angels attention. "A friendly Pilot is attached to the hull," Sid informed her.

"Now then, let's go take out a Titan," Angel heard Ash say.

Angel controlled her Titan into a hurried sprint. Although her Titans chassis wasn't one of the fastest Titans around, a sprinting Ogre was still able to run faster than any Pilot. Angel ran straight ahead down the makeshift road, taking a left at the back of the building that housed Hardpoint Bravo. Turning right, she found the Titan that had been stopping them from taking control of the Hardpoint. The Titan was a Stryder, and with its back turned to her Angel had the element of surprise on her side. She ran straight for it, assaulting the machine with her ordinance once she was right on top of it. Her Slaved Warheads sent out three volleys of missiles, each rocket exploding against the Stryders shields. Angels Ogre reared its fist back and smashed it into the side of the machine as it turned to face her, the Big Punch mod equipped on her Titan destroyed the last of its shields, buckling and knocking off much of its armor and sending it soaring away from her. On the hull of her Ogre, Angel could her the clunk coming from Ash's Mag Launcher as he attacked her target with his Anti-Titan weapon. The Stryder quickly recovered and ran straight back at her, firing a hail of grenades from its Triple threat. Its aggressive response was a mistake on the Pilots part. A few rounds from Angels own Triple Threat was enough to doom the enemy Titan. With it right in front of her and no chance of escape, Angel went for the termination. Her Ogre grabbed the Stryders right arm with its left hand, kicking the Titan with one of its feet and tearing the arm clean off. She grabbed its left arm and removed that one along with it, not even needing to kick the machine to take it off. Angel swung the arm in her Titans right hand behind and over herself before bringing it crashing down on the Stryders head, smashing its form inwards and crushing the Pilot inside. On the destruction of its power core, the Stryder finally exploded, leaving scraps of metal where it had once stood.

Ash jumped straight off of the Ogre and immediately ran inside the building. Angel opened the hatch to her Titan and sprinted after him.

"AI mode engaged, aggression levels set to maximum," Sid informed her as she left.

"Alright guys," Tails spoke to the Pilots. "G.U.N. has the lead in this fight right now. I can turn it around _IF_ you get me patched into another Hardpoint."

"Tails," Sally came in next. "I'm picking multiple jump signatures in orbit. It looks like G.U.N. might be bringing in Pilot reinforcements."

"Well our Pilots on the ground have already taken out most of the Pilots they had stationed down there. They'd have to bring in more forces at some point."

"And they've got plenty of soldiers to spare," Sally answered. "Pilots, you're about to be met with more resistance down there. Be ready."

* * *

"Great, shit's about to hit the fan again," Inkwell sighed, once again running for Hardpoint Alpha with Ionia.

"Just stay focused and we'll get through this," Ionia said to her.

"I'm not concerned about my own safety right now," she replied.

"Then what is it?" Ionia's asked.

Ionia watched as Inkwells head turned to the sky, she followed her allies gaze and saw what she was focusing on. In the skies above the facility, ships from the Legions fleet could be seen jumping into the view while others jumped back into orbit. Sally and Tails were probably working overtime to help coordinate all the ships that needed refueling. She watched on in sadness as rounds from one of the heavy turrets ripped into one of the ships from the fleet, sending it falling down to the earth in a fiery blaze.

"We had no other choice but to come here," Ionia explained, running beside Inkwell. "In space, fuel is life. And we were running low. We didn't have any other option but to conduct this raid."

Inkwell was silent as they neared the building. Ionia heard the telltale sound of Inkwell switching on her Active Radar Pulse. Through her visor, Inkwell could see the skeletal forms of all the soldiers currently residing within the building. They were all showing up orange, that meant they were all hostiles. A group of three were positioned on the lower floor, Grunts had a habit of sticking close to their squad mates. One lone figure was covering the second floor, most likely an enemy Pilot.

"One Pilot up top, a cluster of Grunts down low," Inkwell informed Ionia. "Let's secure the Hardpoint."

"You got it," Ionia replied.

Inkwell jumped into the air and allowed her jump kit to boost her up to an opening on the second floor, Ionia activated her cloak and covered her ally by sticking to low ground. Inkwell turned the corner into the building, her R-101C already raised at the orange figure on the other side of the wall. The moment her adversary came into view she snapped her finger onto the trigger of her Carbine, peppering the Pilot with a hail of bullets.

"We've got a friendly Pilot down!" One of the Grunts down below shouted over his comms.

Anything else they had to say was silenced as Ionia put a bullet through each of their heads with pin-point accuracy. A trio of Legion Grunts followed in after her, one of them taking a seat at the terminal to patch Tails into the Hardpoint.

"Glad to have you with us ma'am," one of them said to Ionia, giving her a quick salute.

She saw the third Grunt turned to his friend at the terminal, noticing a hint of distress on him.

"Hey, what's wrong dude?" He asked.

"My wife and kids were on the Olympus..." the Grunt at the terminal sadly explained.

"Aw shit, I'm sorry man," the first replied. "My brother and his family are on the Steelport."

"Then I'm gonna make sure they get out of this, I'm not losing any more friends and loved ones to this goddamn raid," the Grunt at the terminal said with determination.

Tails face once again popped on the huds of the Pilots on the ground, his face showed a sense of urgency to it.

"Pilots. G.U.N's pulling further ahead of us, we're getting our asses handed to us down there. Pull it together!" He said in a frustrated tone.

No sooner had Tails face disappeared, a new one replaced it. It seemed to be one of the captains of a ship from the Legions fleet.

"Tails! This is the Melbourne!" He shouted over the noise in the background. "We're taking a lot of flack up here, we need those turrets offline ASAP!"

"Working on it Melbourne," Tails replied. "Pilots, you need to get me patched into another Hardpoint right now! Move!"

"We take one step forward and then take another two back," Ash's voice growled over the radio. "This is getting ridiculous!"

"Keep it together," Ionia replied. "We can still pull this back if we focus, don't fall apart now."

* * *

Angel was currently sprinting back to Hardpoint Charlie in her Titan. She was suddenly thrown around in the cockpit after an impact hit the side of her Ogre. Turning herself to face her attacker she found two enemy Titans moving towards her, two Ogres. One carrying a 40mm Cannon, the other holding a Quad Rocket. More missiles and shells began firing towards her, she raised her Vortex Shield to give herself a moment of relief. The next lot of projectiles were absorbed into the shield, swirling around inside the vortex.

"I could use some help here!" She shouted over her radio.

"Titan support is on the way!" She heard Inkwell shout back.

From the skies above the two Titans, a fireball plummeted towards the earth. Neither of them had noticed it. The pod broke apart and the Titan slammed onto the ground, right on top of one of the enemy Titans. The Ogre was destroyed underneath the weight, crushed into pieces with a heavy 'crunch.' Inkwell could be seen sprinting towards her Titan from its rear. Once she'd gotten close enough, she dropped down to one knee and slid between its legs. She planted one foot into one of its massive hands, gripping it with one of her own. The Stryder scooped her up into the cockpit with ease, its front closing shut once she was positioned in her seat. The moment the screen in front of her had come to life, Inkwell began firing her 40mm Cannon. It was to late to save Angels Titan however, flames burst out from the Ogre as it entered its doomed state.

"I'm up!" Angel could be heard shouting over the radio.

The Ogre exploded into pieces as she ejected from her Titan, sending her rocketing up into the sky. The remaining Ogre turned to face Inkwell, activating a Particle Wall in front of itself to block the damage from her Cannon. She put her Stryders speed advantage to good use, dashing to the side and then straight ahead, positioning herself on the Ogres side. A cluster missile exploded on its hull, the submunitions showering it in more explosives and causing more damage to its already weakened form. Inkwell continued the assault with her 40mm Cannon, each shell firing from the cannon with a heavy 'thump,' their casings flung out to the side as they were ejected from the cannon. The Ogre returned fire with its Quad Rocket, making short work of the Styders shields.

"Warning, critical damage sustained," Inkwells OS alerted her. "Recommend regen."

She dashed to side once again and then ahead, sprinting through the building that housed Hardpoint Charlie. She was trying her best to avoid anymore damage in order to give her shields a chance to regenerate. The Ogre was slow, struggling to keep up with the Stryders lightweight form. That gave Inkwell a strong advantage. She caught sight of the enemy Ogre stomping through the building towards her, rockets already firing from its weapon. Moving out of its line of sight, Inkwell positioned her Titan beside the entrance to the building. She waited a few seconds before quickly pressing a number of buttons on a pad beside her armrest, her hands immediately finding their way to the ejection lever between her legs. She pulled it up towards herself with all of her strength and before she knew it she was soaring up into the sky. Down below, Inkwell watched as a bright white light quickly began emanating from her Titan as it charged up its nuclear core. At the very last second, the Ogre appeared from out of the building and her Stryder detonated. The explosion engulfed the Titan, decimating its shields and shredding its armor. In the end the Ogre exploded, killing the Pilot inside of it.

"Nice one, Inkwell," she heard Angel call out.

"Thanks," she replied.

Their moment of victory was short lived as a face popped up in the corner of their hud, it was the Captain of the Melbourne again.

"Tails! This is the Melbourne!" He shouted over explosions in the background. "We're going down! We're going dow-"

As the screen cut out the Captains voice was silent, it was obvious just what had happened.

"Oh no," they heard Ionia's voice gasp.

In the skies above the facility, all of the soldiers on the ground could see the Melbourne finally give in to the damage it had sustained from the turrets G.U.N. had set up in the area. Flames shot out from its sides as sections of its hull exploded. The Melbourne was now descending towards the ground, the impact would most likely kill everyone on board.

Tails face appeared on their hud once again, his face showed a great of sadness and defeat.

"Pilots, we've taken to many losses," he sadly explained. "We've lost this one, get to your evac ships."

"I'm sending in the dropships to get you out of there," Sally explained as her face replaced Tails. "Clear out the evacuation zone and prepare for pickup."

"Godammit!" Ash's voice shouted over the radio.

"We all heard them," Inkwell explained. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"I hear you," Angel replied. "We need to go."

* * *

Ionia's Titan had been ready for deployment for some time now, though she hadn't seen any real need to call it in until up to this point. She threw out her beacon and waited for the arrival. Five seconds later, her Atlas was down on one knee before her. She sprinted straight for it and leapt into the air, the machine stood up and caught her mid-flight before quickly placing her into the seat inside its chest.

"Welcome back, switching to manual control," her ever polite OS, Jeeves, said as she took control.

"Inkwell! Jump on!" Ionia shouted after seeing her ally sprinting in front of her.

Inkwell changed her course and quickly jumped onto the friendly Atlas, clambering over one of its shoulders and positioning herself on its back before drawing her Carbine again.

The evacuation zone had been positioned on top of the building that had housed Hardpoint Alpha, they had thirty seconds before their ride off of the planet would arrive.

* * *

On foot, Angel sprinted through Bravo. She raised her Spitfire and let rip, clearing out a group of Grunts along with an enemy Pilot. Hurried footsteps sounded behind her just before she managed to exit the building. She spun around and quickly tossed both of her Arc Grenades, they both exploded one after the other taking out one more cloaked Pilot. Up ahead of her, Ash jumped into the air and clambered through an open window. He was greeted by a trio of Grunts, all spinning around and quickly firing their Carbines. Ash drew his B3 Wingman and put a single bullet into each of his enemies, he took two to the chest before they were all dead. He quickly spun around as footsteps sounded behind him, finding Angel had climbed through the same window as him.

"Let's get out of here," she stated, quickly running past him.

Ash wasted no time following after her. Sprinting through a doorway, they found themselves running through a large hallway. Half of the floor was missing, opening up the lower floor of the building. The case was same with the ceiling. One after the other, Angel and Ash jumped at the wall and began wall running. They pushed off of the wall and activated their jump kits mid-flight, boosting themselves up onto the roof. On the ground below, Ionia was doing her best to hold of the G.U.N. forces with her Titan. Inkwell was still attached to her, taking out anything she could with her Carbine. She looked behind the two of them briefly, her eyes widened underneath her helmet.

"Behind us!" She shouted, banging her fist on top of the Titan she was rodeoing.

Ionia spun around and raised her Vortex Shield just in time to catch a flurry of missiles, dropping it after the assault had ended and sending the rockets straight back at their owner. Inkwell had her Archer on her shoulder and had received a lock on the enemy Titan, she pulled the trigger and sent a missile of her own at their attacker. The Titan entered its doomed state and the Pilot quickly ejected.

"No you don't," Ionia growled. She tracked the Pilot with her XO-16 Chaingun and began firing away. Two bullets hit and then several more quickly followed, taking the Pilot clean out of the air.

"Your rides here! Get on!" Sally's voice came in over everyones radio.

Angel and Ash were already on the rooftop of the building, they had boarded the dropship the moment it had arrived. Inkwell jumped off of the top of the Titan as Ionia exited through its front hatch.

"Get your asses over here!" Ash shouted over the radio.

Within seconds, Ionia and Inkwell were sprinting up the buildings exterior stairs and jumping the dropships side door.

"That's it, we're getting out of here!" The dropship pilot called.

The dropships large side door lowered down and locked shut as the began ascend upwards. The build up from the jump core slowly drowned out any other noise. With a heavy 'whump' everything fell silent, leaving all those aboard the ship to stare out into the vast emptiness of space.

"What's the toll, Tails?" Sally's voice cut in through the silence.

"Fifty-four ships destroyed," Tails explained. "Seventy-five percent of them were civilian," he added with a heavy sigh.

"DAMMIT!" Inkwell shouted, slamming her fist into the side of the dropship.

"Well the rest of the fleets got enough fuel to get through another month," Tails continued.

"That was chaos down there, Tails. Our tactics are a mess," Sally stated.

"Sally, neither of us has any experience leading a force of this size," Tails replied.

"Then we're gonna have to work with what we've got, were outta options," Sally shot at him.

Everyone on board the dropship was silent for the rest of the trip. Only Inkwells angry muttering broke through the silence. The mission was only a partial success, they got what they came for but no one could tell if the cost was worth it in the end.

* * *

The, Serenity, was easily one of the largest ships in the Legions fleet. It served as a home for many of the Titan Pilots within the Legion among other things. It was also Tails and Sally's command center for many of their ongoing operations. The atmosphere within the Mega Carrier was full of sorrow. The Legion had suffered losses before, but their latest one was one of the biggest yet.

Within twenty-four hours, the Legion fleet had fled from the system where the raid had taken place and disappeared into the vastness of space. The group of Titan Pilots who had taken part in the raid had gotten all the rest they could, they were now waiting to hear news of their next mission. There would always be another battle to fight, another mission to complete. The fighting never seemed to end.

"How many friends did you lose, Angel?" Ionia asked, looking at the blue hedgehog seated at the other side of the table across from her.

"Too many," Angel sighed, staring back at the blue arctic fox.

"Things have really gone to shit since we lost General Anderson, huh?" A red hedgehog stated as he sat down at the table.

"Everything could definitely be better," a grey furred Lynx agreed as she approached the group.

The group currently seated around the table was the same group of Titan Pilots that had been on the ground during the refueling raid. Now that the fighting was over for the moment, the Pilots had stepped out of their armor and changed into their casual clothes. Their casual wear consisted primarily of jeans and shirts, some wore a hoodie for an extra layer of clothing.

Their conversation was momentarily ended as Tails voice sounded through the speakers within the mess hall they were residing within.

"Listen up crew, the good news is we're still alive. The majority of our fleet survived the raid with enough fuel to survive another month" Tails explained. "According to the tactical computers, the operation was a success. But we cannot continue to trade Human and Mobian lives for fuel, we need to recruit more people to our cause wherever we can find them. That's all for now."

"It's like Sally said, our tactics are a mess," Inkwell angrily stated. "We need to improve our teamwork."

"It works both ways," Ash replied. "Yes we need to improve on our teamwork. But Sally and Tails need to learn how to coordinate our forces more efficiently."

"You're right, we all have a lot of work to do," a new voice agreed. The voice was found to belong to Sally Acorn as she joined the group. "But we're going to have to work fast, two hours ago we picked up this transmission on the distress channel," she added, placing an audio device on the table.

"Wait, we're a small colony. What the hell are these thing?! We need help, activate the distress beacon now!" A voice urgently shouted. What sounded like gunfire and heavy impacts like something banging against a steel door could be heard in the background.

"They're getting through the door. They're getting through door! No! Argh-" a second voice cried, the transmission ended after what clearly sounded like gunfire filled the audio.

"The origin of the signal is from a sector that isn't populated, it's not on any charts" Sally explained. "There is a chance it could be a G.U.N. trap, that's why we're sending you to check it out first. But if these guys are homesteader and we help them out, they might join our cause."

"So you want us back down on the ground again?" Angel asked.

"That's right," Sally answered. "The four of you work well together. If you put your mind to it, I have full confidence that you can win us the fight if G.U.N. really is waiting for us down there."

"So when are we being deployed?" Ionia's was next to ask.

"We'll let you know when we get close to the origin of the distress signal. We're going to inform the rest of our forces shortly, I just wanted the four of you to hear it first. Until then, prepare yourselves. As I said, we don't if this will be a trap or not. So be prepared for anything."

As Sally left to attend to her other duties, Inkwell let out a sigh as she leaned back into her seat.

"When will it end?"

**(A/N) Okay, that's it for the chapter. Let me know your thoughts and feel free to ask any questions if you have any, I'll try to answer them in the next chapter. Until then.**

**Catchya =)**

**Angel belongs to IcyAngels**

**Ash belongs to Kirbysage18**

**Inkwell belongs to Inkwell Light**

**Ionia belongs to Gold the Fox**


	4. The Colony

**(A/N) Long time no see right? Haha. Here's another chapter for you all. Finally!**

* * *

Ash slotted the last bullet into the magazine, giving it a tap on his hip to make sure everything inside it was in place before placing the filled magazine onto the belt on his armor. He picked up his Carbine from the bench and began checking over it to make sure everything was in working order.

"Still paranoid your gun might jam on you?" A voice asked him.

Ash looked up and found Angel making her way towards him.

"You mean jam on me. Again," he corrected her as he went back to inspecting his weapon. "After that one time on Karpan, I'm not leaving anything to chance."

"At Least you had your sidearm on you until you could find a replacement."

"Maybe," Ash replied as he finished checking his Carbine. "But I'd rather not come up against another Pilot carrying an R-97 with only my Wingman to defend myself with again, I thought I was a deadman for sure that day."

"So how did you end up getting out of there?" Angel asked. "We all know a B3 Wingman doesn't stand a chance against an R-97 in close-quarters-combat."

"Someone else took a hit for me," Ash answered. "And then I put a bullet through his fucking skull."

Ash must have felt that the conversation was over as he picked up his helmet and placed it over his head, securing it in place before making his way towards the dropship.

"Who took the hit?" Came another question from Angel.

Ash stopped in his tracks, remaining silent for a moment before finally replying. "I was asked not to say," he answered, returning to making his way for the dropship.

"Of course you were," Angel sighed before following Ash's path.

Approaching the dropship, Angel noticed the rest of their group standing off to the side as they equipped the last of their gear. Sally was sitting on a seat inside the ship, going over something on a data pad she held in her hand. A lone Pilot sat on a crate a few meters away from the rest of them, checking over the Hammond he held onto. It was the nervous twitch in his hands that caught Angels attention however. Letting out a quiet sigh, she made her way over to him.

"If you grip that sidearm any tighter it may just turn into a diamond," Angel chuckled, stopping in front of him and placing her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, just last minute jitters I guess," the Pilot responded with a nervous chuckle of his own.

"Don't apologize," Angel replied, raising a hand in front of herself. "First mission I take it?"

"First mission as a Pilot," came the answer. "I was just a Grunt until I got accepted into Titan Pilot training a few months back. I've seen what you guys can do firsthand, I've even learned all the maneuvers myself now."

"But?" Angel asked.

"But all that training was just that, training and simulations. This is the first time I'll be using it all in the field."

"What's your name?" Angel asked after a brief moment of silence.

"Aiden," the Pilot replied.

"Well, Aiden. So long as you remember your training, follow your orders and pay attention to what's going on around you, I'm sure you'll be fine. Now come on, our dropships about to fly out," Angel explained before turning around and making her way to the ship. "And besides," she added. "We don't know if G.U.N actually have anything to do with the distress signal yet."

"Yeah, good point," Aiden replied as he followed after her.

As the Pilots boarded the dropship Sally placed her data pad on the seat next to her before making her way up the small steps to the front of the ship to speak with the dropship Pilots. Inkwell, being the last one on board, hit the switch next to the door to lower the side door and allow it to close and lock in place.

"Here we go," Ionia quietly muttered as the dropship lifted off and flew out of the carrier.

* * *

The dropship exited its warp jump and began circling around the colony area. It appeared to be an agricultural section with the farmlands that had been built outside of the main walls of the colonies housing placement. The side door of the dropship swung open, Angel and Inkwell sat themselves down on the floor of the dropship and allowed their legs to dangle down over the edge as the remaining Pilots simply stood behind them. A small amount of rainfall fell from the skies above, the rain clouds casting a light shadowing over the colony below. As Ash looked out over the the colony he found himself surprised by the buildings in the area, or more specifically the materials they had been built from. Some of the buildings looked like they had been made from the paneling of a carrier ship. A large tower had been erected in the center of the colony, if one were to stand at its peak they would likely have a full view of the entire town. Some small fires blazed and burned throughout several sections of the area, and someone had painted an SOS on the landing pad at the edge of the town. It was those few details that placed an unsettling feeling in the few investigating the colony.

"Tails, start playback," Sally spoke. She stood beside the Pilots with her left foot on one of the seats and the fingers of her right hand pressed against her earpiece.

"Mayday! Mayday!" The transmission began as Tails started it up from his control center within the Serenity. "We are a small civilian colony on planet Artemis. We are under attack from G.U.N forces and require immediate assistance. Please send help, embedding coordinates."

"That distress call was four hours old," Tails explained over the comms. "Okay... First squad on the ground, they have eyes on the distress signal coordinates."

"What do you see three-two? Anything by the tower?" Sally asked the squad.

"Nothing," came the response. "The tower looks abandoned. We got dead colonists in the streets, no sign of the others."

"Got it. Pilots, let's find out what the hell happened here," Sally ordered, turning her attention to the Titan Pilots on board of the dropship. "Fan out through the village and we'll meet up by the south gate. Be careful down there."

As the Pilots jumped from the dropship and landed on the ground below, their attention was immediately drawn to some activity unfolding ahead of them. A grunt kneeling down on the ground with what appeared to be one of the colonists on their back in front of him. The grunt heard the Pilots approaching behind him and quickly stood and faced them as he waved them over.

"Hey! I've got a live one here!" He shouted over the noise of the dropships as they took to the air once again.

Out of nowhere, some form of humanoid machine jumped over the rooftop of the building ahead them and stomped on the chest of the colonist killing him instantly while simultaneously shoving the grunt into a crate beside the two. Before anyone had a chance to react, the machine grabbed the grunt and viscously snapped his neck, spraying blood over the crate the grunt had been pushed against.

"Open fire! Take it out!" A voice shouted.

No one wasted a second as everyone nearby aimed their weapons at the machine and began firing away. No sooner had the first one been dispatched two more quickly arrived in the same manner, the next two were dispatched just as quickly. The Titan Pilots soon spread out as they began sprinting down the roads and on top of the buildings.

"This is Wildcard three-two, we've made contact with the enemy!" One of the squads came in over on the comms. "Some new generation of automated combat troop! These things are everywhere!"

"Copy that three-two. Sending in additional dropships, ETA, thirty seconds," came the response.

"Pilots, this is no longer a search and rescue! Get ready for a battle of Attrition. Kill 'em all!" Sally ordered the Titan Pilots as her face popped up on their huds. "Tails, access the logs on that distress beacon, I want to know what happened here," she continued.

"You got it, Sally," Tails replied. "I'll let you know when I find anything."

* * *

The dropship Sally sat inside of quickly began docking within the Crysis. The Crysis was one of the Legions several Titan production carriers, Titans would be built and armed inside of the carrier before being sent into an orbital drop to a planets surface ready for use by their Titan Pilots. No sooner had the ship docked, Sally was sprinting for her station as she gave the carriers crew their orders.

"All crew, get to your stations," Sally spoke into the microphone she pulled from a nearby wall. "This is not a drill, our forces have been met with G.U.N resistance. We need Titans ready for deployment. I repeat. Get to your stations, this is not a drill."

Before she could continue on her way to her command center, Sally was halted by a firm hand on her shoulder. Turning to face the owner, Sally found one of her best friends giving her a concerned looked. Standing before her with her metal limbs and familiar cowboy hat was Bunnie Rabbot.

Bunnie had never planned on joining another fight, their battle against Robotnik when they were mere kids had been more than enough for her. That had changed two years ago however. Travel between systems and planets had become commonplace over the years, and Bunnie and her husband, Antoine D'Coolette, had taken advantage of that when they decided upon taking a much needed vacation. Unfortunately for the two, the very planet they had been visiting came under attack from the Cyrak while they were still on the planets surface. G.U.N came to planets defense and eventually forced its attackers away, but the damage had already been done. Many lives were lost during the attack, civilian and soldier alike. Sadly, Antoine had been one of the casualties. Bunnie signed up with G.U.N months after the attack, but she was no soldier. However, the rabbit quickly found her place as a Quartermaster. Helping arm the troops and their Titans for combat. It didn't take long for Bunnie to realize that G.U.N weren't as upstanding as they had always been made out to be, and when she found out one of her closest friends was helping lead the resistance against the organization, the decision to defect came easily to her. She may not have been on the front lines, but she was going to do all she could to help her old and new friends.

"Sally, what's goin' on?" Bunnie asked.

"Long story short, G.U.N's attacking a colony," Sally explained. "We're going to push them back. I'll explain the rest later, we've got a job to do," she finished, receiving a nod from her friend before running off again.

"Alright, y'all heard the lady," Bunnie stated as she turned to her workers. "Cleo, we need Cluster rounds and Railgun Cylinders brought up from storage," she ordered, receiving a nod from her colleague. "The rest of you get the rest of our armaments prepped and ready, we need Titans ready to drop in five minutes." As everyone spread out to complete their tasks, Bunnie began loading up Rocket Salvos with their required ordinance. "From defending colonies to attacking them, they've stooped to an all time low."

* * *

"Way to get it started," Tails said to Angel from his control center, having witnessed her take out the first Pilot in their current battle through her helmets inbuilt camera.

"Tails, any progress tracking the remaining colonists?" He soon heard Sally ask him.

"I'm picking up an incoming transmission, but it's garbled," Tails sighed in frustration. "Give me some time to clean it up." No sooner had the words left his mouth, the two tailed fox realized he'd made at least some progress. "Hang on a second, Sally. I've decoded some of the transmission. Can't quite make it out. Voice only."

"Play the transmission," Sally quickly replied.

Tails started up what he had of the transmission, allowing himself, Sally and the Pilots on the ground to hear what the speaker had to say.

"Looks like... finally have found our little corner of the universe," everyone listening managed to make out, the static and interference made hearing the transmission in its entirety difficult for them all. "We are not 'terrorists', we are not part of your damn war... we're falling back to... and colonists, if you can hear me, do not engage G.U.N. They can't be reasoned with."

"Tails, clean it up and find out where the remaining colonists went," Sally finally said once the transmission ended.

"Got it," Tails simply acknowledged in response.

Down on the ground, the Legions forces were giving it their all. One thing many of them had noticed was the lack of G.U.N grunts. Instead, the colony was crawling with the automated infantry units they had encountered upon their arrival.

"What the hell are these things?!" Inkwell shouted as she gunned down a trio of the machines.

"Hell if I know," Ash replied while jumping across a rooftop above her. "They look like killer Marvins."

"Marvins are just service droids," Ionia explained. "These things are way beyond tha-" her response was cut short as she felt a bullet lodge itself into her back. With a cry of pain, she leapt into the air with her jump kit and spun around to spot the shooter. The smoke trail the bullets left behind gave her all the answers she needed. "Sniper in the tower!" Ionia said, alerting the others. "Sounds like a DMR. Watch yourselves out in the open areas."

"That won't be a problem for long," Inkwell chuckled as her Titan slammed into the dirt before her.

"Relinquishing control to Pilot," SID stated as she jumped inside and took control of her Titan.

The Lynx immediately turned her attention to the tower and fired a cluster missile towards its platform. The missile connected and its cluster munitions began saturating the area. As Inkwell fired her 40mm at the tower for good measure, it was then that she noticed the jump jets from a cloaked Pilots jump kit descending towards the ground.

"He jumped from the tower. Ash, he's headed your way!" Inkwell called out.

"Got it, I'll take him out," Ash replied.

Ash saw the cloaked form of a Pilot sprint past him, just as Inkwell had said. Raising his Carbine, he fired towards his target, hitting his mark but not doing enough damage as the Pilot ducked through a door into a building. He gave chase and followed him through doorway. Doing his Pilot trained reflexes proud, Ash bent himself back just in time to avoid a kick that would have surely ended his life, simply having his rifle knocked out of his hands instead. Reacting just as quickly he ran straight at the enemy Pilot, charging him into a wall. He slammed his fist into the Snipers chest, receiving a headbutt in response. Ash stumbled back a few paces before surging his boot out in front of himself, the Sniper dived out of the way and a dent was put into the wall with a heavy 'clang'. As he turned to face the opposing Pilot, Ash heard a sickening snap and felt pain shoot through one of his legs as he dropped to the floor. The Pilot had landed a kick on his leg, and Ash returned the favor by slamming his own foot into the Snipers knee sending him down to the floor with him. The Sniper screamed as he fell, though his screams were soon silenced and drowned out by the noise of Angels Spitfire as she ran into the building and unloaded her weapon into the Pilot.

"You okay?" Angel asked, helping Ash to his feet.

"Legs broken," Ash grunted. "The Nanites should hold it all together and deal with the pain, but I'm going to have to visit the medical wing once this is over."

"Great job down there Pilots," they all heard Tails come in. "We're giving G.U.N a run for their money this time. Keep this up and we'll have the battle won in no time."

"A bit better than our last mission," Ash sighed as he sprinted outside with a slight limp, the wounds from their previous half won half failed mission still fresh in his mind. His Atlas was already on the ground waiting for him, having called it in before exiting the building.

"I'm glad you're back, Pilot," the gentle tone of his OS, Vanessa, said as control of the Titan was switched over to him.

"Sure beats limping everywhere," Ash chuckled to himself in response.

"Hey guys," an unfamiliar voice began. Angel recognized the owner however, it was Aiden. "What the hell is that out on cliffs?"

"Gonna have to be a little more specific than that, Aiden," Angel replied, jumping onto the back of Inkwells Titan.

"South side of the colony, on the cliffs a ways out from here."

Seeing as they were currently in the south side of the colony, Inkwell and and Angel spared a quick moment to spot what had caught Aidens attention. It didn't take them long to find it.

"Is that a... G.U.N carrier?" Inkwell asked.

"Sure looks like it," Angel replied. "But how did it get all the way out here."

"Or how long has it been here," Aiden added.

"Sounds like we all have questions we want answered," Ionia pitched in, having heard the conversation.

* * *

Back up in the Crysis, Sally was growing impatient. She was good at controlling her emotions for the most part, but enough time had passed and she wanted to know how much more Tails had learned of the transmission. Making sure she had a spare moment, Sally patched into the comms.

"Tails, can you give me a status update?" She asked.

"I'm still working on decrypting the full transmission," Tails replied as his face appeared before her. "Here's what I've got."

Although static still littered the transmission, it was much clearer than it had been before. "...we're falling back to higher ground... we're falling back to the carrier... the Odyssey is our only chance..."

"I know that voice- I've heard it somewhere before," Tails muttered, though those listening still heard him clearly enough. He turned his attention back to Sally and began speaking to her directly once again. "I'm gonna run voice analysis, it's gonna take a little more time."

As Sally cut the comms connection, she heard a voice call out in her direction from behind her. "We got a Titan ready to drop! Ogre, triple threat. Pilot; Angel."

Sally gave a nod and turned back to her workstation. She selected the correct Pilots feed and patched herself in. "Ok, Pilot. Your Titans ready to drop, call it when ready," She informed Angel. It only took a few seconds before a beacon was activated and a drop destination was locked in. "Copy that. Standby for Titanfall." Sally hit the switch and the pod detached from the carrier, hurtling towards the colony as it fell from orbit.

* * *

"Warning! Titan reactor unstable. Eject!" Inkwells Titan OS alerted her as her Titan entered its doomed state from the Chaingun of the Atlas she had been facing. Ignoring the ever growing danger, Inkwell pressed her attack onwards. Determined to cause as much damage as possible before abandoning her Titan. "Eject! Eject! Eject!" Her OS urged her as her Titan reached its last few seconds before its reactor would detonate, wether or not she were still inside.

Not wanting to press her luck any further, Inkwell pressed several button on her seats arm rest and pulled the lever between her legs. As she ascended towards the sky, Inkwell looked down at the battle below. The Atlas that had doomed her Titan had attempted to finish her off with a termination, though once it's Pilot saw the the nuclear core powering up it quickly dashed away. What the Pilot had not seen however was Ash approaching from behind, and with a punch from his Titans fist they were forced back towards impending nuclear explosion. Inkwells Titan exploded, taking the enemy with it.

"Nice one Ash!" Inkwell called out as she landed on a nearby rooftop, she saw the Titan wave at her before stomping off to find more hostiles.

Making his way out of a garage he had walked through, Ash heard a thump come from the hull of his Titan.

"Warning, a hostile is attached to my hull," Vanessa alerted him.

"Not for long," Ash muttered as he deployed his Titans electric smoke.

A thick blanket of smoke surrounded Ash's vision and soon electrical sparks began crackling all around him. He heard the panel that protected his Titans internal systems get ripped off, that was soon followed by a scuffling as his attacker fell to the ground. Ash took a step back to get a view of the one who had attacked him, though he was surprised to find out it had been one of the machines they had been fighting since the start of the battle.

"Guys, watch yourselves around the machines when you're in your Titans. These things can rodeo us," he informed the others.

"Really?!" Angel responded, clearly frustrated by the development. "G.U.N certainly thinks of everything, don't they," she added bitterly.

"Sally, I got a positive idea!" Tails abruptly came in on the comms. "But it doesn't make any sense... this guy fell off the radar years ago. Hell, he's listed as KIA!"

"Spit out, Tails, we're running outta time," Sally replied urgently.

"His names, Jenkins," Tails answered. "He was already a legend when I was just a rookie. Only not on our side."

"Alright, find out where he's transmitting from."

"I'll do what I can," Tails said with a nod. "Out."

* * *

As Ionia ran through the streets of the colony, she caught sight a Pilot heading towards an open doorway. Removing a grenade from her belt, she held it in her hand as she ran for a couple of seconds before lobbing it into the building. The grenade entered the building a second before her target, exploding shortly after and killing the Pilot in the process. From a rooftop, a second Pilot began firing at her with her Carbine. Ionia jumped back and shoulder her rifle, taking the woman out with several precise shots. Not having chance to catch her breath, Ionia leapt towards a wall and began running along it as a third Pilot came into her sights. Removing her Autopistol from its holster, Ionia took aim and fired away. The Pilot fell as she emptied her clip.

"Now you're just showing off," she heard Inkwell say as she jumped down from a rooftop, having seen the whole thing.

"Great job down there Pilots," Tails praised them. "Save for a miracle for G.U.N, there's no way we're losing this fight!"

"One last push! Let's finish them off!" Angel cried.

While she led her Titan through the streets as she ran along a rooftop, Angel watched as a friendly Pilot was shot out of mid-air. A Kraber round piercing straight through their chest.

"Shit! Another sniper in the tower!" She called out, having spotted the Pilot after following the smoke trail from the shot. She quickly entered her Titan before the sniper could get her in his sights.

She was lucky she hadn't blinked after catching sight of the sniper. One moment he had been standing at the peak of the tower, the next he was falling to the ground in a combination of bits and pieces and red mist. It didn't take her long to figure out who had ended his life. His demise had been delivered by one well placed Railgun shot, courtesy of a red hedgehog currently seated within his Titan.

"What was that about a sniper?" Ash asked with a smirk.

Angel sighed and shook her head, though she was quickly brought back to full attention as she was shaken around inside her Titan. She turned to face her attacker and raised her Vortex Shield, catching the remaining missiles from a Rocket Salvo and the bullets that continued firing from a Chaingun.

"Angel, back up so I can get clear shot!" She heard Ash say and waisted no time complying.

A shrill whistle bursted out of Ash's Railgun and the superheated shot took out the enemy Titans shields in a single blast. Angel lowered her Vortex Shield and threw the projectiles back where they came from, firing her Triple Threat as she backed herself up. The combined attack from Ash and herself doomed the Titan in mere seconds, and upon ejection a nuclear core began charging up directly in front of her. Angels eyes widened as she quickly realized she had no time to get her Titan away from the impending explosion. So taking her only option, she pulled the lever between her legs and abandoned it. As she ejected, Angel raised her Spitfire towards the enemy Pilot still in the air. Though she didn't get a chance to pull the trigger as a well placed headshot from a DMR took the Pilot clean out of the skies. She spotted the bullets smoke trail leading back to Aiden as she landed on the back of Ash's Titan.

"You good?" Ash asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Angel replied. "Nice shot Aiden," she added.

"Thanks," came the response. "I guess the guys weren't kidding when they said I was a hell of a sniper," he chuckled.

"Keep that up and I'll be inclined to agree," Ash said with a nod.

"Hey guys, I just thought of something," Inkwells voice suddenly came in.

"What's that?" Ionia asked.

"I just spotted a wall made from a thruster caling," she explained. "Maybe this colony was built by the people who used to live on that carrier Aiden spotted way out on the cliffs."

"The Odyssey," Ionia stated. "I'm pretty sure I heard that voice from the transmission call it that. And that would explain a lot of things. Like why there's a colony all the way out here and why no one even knew it existed."

As Inkwell took out one more Pilot with her Carbine, Tails patched himself into the comms with some good news.

"Great job down there Pilots, we kicked their asses! Looks like G.U.N's trying to retreat," he explained with a smirk as his face appeared on the Pilots huds. "Don't let 'em get to their evac point. I almost have a fix on the location of the survivors."

Everyone on the ground could see that Tails spoke the truth. G.U.N's forces were falling back and defending themselves as they waited for their evacuation ships to arrive.

"Sally, I've pinpointed the source of the transmission! Channels open," he said before Sally's face replaced his own.

"To whoever's on this channel, identify yourself!" She demanded.

As Sally's face disappeared, an unfamiliar one took her place. The owner of the voice from the transmission was human. He was Caucasian and had his blonde hair tied into a short ponytail at the back his head. He looked absolutely livid.

"Never mind who this is! They were tracking you and they found us instead! Damn Legion..." He growled angrily. "We didn't want any part of your war so you brought it to our doorstep?! Those were civilians getting slaughtered!"

"We came to answer your distress signal! I repeat, identify yourself!" Sally shot back.

"This is Connor Jenkins," he finally answered with a sigh. "Formerly of G.U.N. You wanna help? You come and get me. I have a lot of survivors here that need an evac."

"Hold on. I'm getting G.U.N command on this frequency," Tails cut in.

"You should have stayed gone, Jenkins," a deep voice stated as the face of an infamous black hedgehog appeared on everyone's huds.

"Holy shit," Inkwell muttered. "What have we gotten ourselves into."

"Shadow," Connor growled. "You're still on the wrong side, aren't you?"

"We're soldiers, Connor. You're dreaming if you think you can sit it out," Shadow stated.

"I'm awake now you son of a bitch," Connor replied before the transmission between all parties was finally cut.

* * *

As the last of G.U.N's ships abandoned the colony, the noise of gunfire and explosions finally ended, dropping the colony into silence save for the patter of rain that continued to fall. Ash walked in his Titan towards their own dropship that would take the Pilots home. The panels on the Titans chest opened up and he stepped out, careful not to put too much weight on his broken leg as he limped towards the ship. Aiden offered him a hand up and he gladly accepted, stepping onto the dropship and sitting himself down on one of the seats. His Titan would be picked by a separate ship and returned to the Crysis for repairs and rearming. He let out a breath as he removed his helmet, running a hand through his quills afterwards.

"Inkwells got a point, you know," he stated, catching the attention of everybody aboard the ship. "What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?"

* * *

**(A/N) Not quite as much action in this chapter, I know. But I kind of wanted to focus more on dialogue this time around. And my own OC has finally turned up. Surprise surprise, he's not dead as the news from the radio stated earlier. And as for Tails calling him a legend. Don't worry, that's not just me trying to put my own character way above everyone's else's. That's there for a reason.**

**So until next time.**

**Catchya =D**


	5. The Vow

**(A/N) This was originally going to be the start of the next chapter, but it feels like it fits better just being on it own.**

* * *

As smoke billowed up from the colonies below, a lone figure approached a rock pile ahead of him he'd built at the top of the cliffs. He lowered himself down to one knee as he placed the last stone on top of the makeshift grave. A wooden post had been planted in the ground at its head, a lone red scarf tied to its top.

"I should have been here," the man sighed, keeping his hand on the stones. "They're going to call us marauders, terrorists... or worse. I'm sorry. I promised you I'd never get back into one of those damn machines again," he continued, letting his hand slide from its place as he got to his feet. "We never had the same beliefs. But if you're looking down, I hope you understand."

"We left everything behind," he continued as he spoke to the grave. "Hell, getting here was just the beginning. You said it would be tough to start over, but I didn't listen. You said more would follow, I thought they'd leave us alone. I was wrong. But there's no turning back. This is our land. This, is our land. And I will fight for it." The noise of a dropship caught his attention and he knew his time for parting words was nearly over. He only had a few last things to say, and a vow to make. "I don't know if there's any 'honor' left in the Frontier. I don't know if there ever was. I just know... I'm gonna make them pay."


End file.
